Improvement in machines for straightening, breaking, and cleaning flax-straw



s. A. cLEMENs.

Machine for Breaking and Cleaning Flax. N6. 59,501. Patented Nov. 6, 1666.

AAAAAAA VVVVVVVV W/TNES'SES N. PEYEHS, Phew-Lnhugmphnr, wnninginn. D. C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIcE.

S'IILLMAN A. CLEMENS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ONE-HALF ASSIGNED TO JAMES J. WALWORIH.

IMPROVEMENT IN MACHINES FOR STRAIGHTENING, BREAKING, AND CLEANING FLAX-STRAW.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 59,501, dated November 6, 1866.

To all whom it may concern Beit known that I, STILLMAN A. CLEMENs, of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Machines for Breaking and Cleaning Flax and other Fibrous Plants; and I do decla-re the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had-to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification, of which- Figure l is a plan of the machine, and Fig. 2 is an elevation of a longitudinal section of the machine, the same letters referring to like parts in both figures.

My invention consists in a herein-described mechanical device for drawing, straightening, and extending tangled dax, whereby a thick layer of tangled dax-straw is drawn and extended into a thin, even sheet of straightened and parallel stalks, for the purpose of preparing itfor an effectual and rapid subsequent mechanical breakin gof the dax-stalks 5 and my invention further consists in the combination of the herein-described mechanical devices for drawing and straightening tangled dax-straw with the herein-described mechanical devices for breaking the stalks of the drawn and straightened flax-straw, thus making a coinbined machine for the purpose of drawing and straightening and breaking tangled dax-straw at one operation; and my invention further consists in herein-described mechanical devices for scutching, beating, and picking or cleaning broken dax, and the combination of the herein described and named devices for cleaning broken dax with the before-mentioned mechanical devices for first drawing and straightening and breaking the dax-straw, thus making a combined machine for the purpose of drawing and straightening and breaking and `cleaning dax at one operation.

In the accompanying drawings, a is the frame of the machine, of which b is a feedtable, c c being side boards of the latter; and d is a toothed or gill cylinder, the lon g-pointed teeth e c of which are set pointing backward from the direction in which the cylinder revolves, as shown by the arrow f.

A smooth or plain surfaced roller, g, for impaling dax upon the teeth of cylinder d, has its surface nearly in contact with the points of the teeth of cylinder d. Successive pairs of duted rollers are represented by hh h h, which are made of the form and adapted in such connection as is common withduted rollers used to break dax. A pair of plain pressure-rollers, jj, with the duted rollers and the plain roller g, each revolve as indicated by the arrowsz t', Ste. A breast or shell, h, is supported below, and its beveled Lipper edge dts the whole length of the surface of the lower roller j. The scutching and picking cylinder Z has open heads m fm, fastened on a shaft, p, which support staves n n, with attached tooth-plates o o, which are made with curved indentations and toothed points on their outer'edges, as shown in the drawings.

The toothed points ofthe plates o o, by alternation in their attachments to the staves n n, are made to sweep all points of the circular plane in which they move, as is done in setting picker-teeth, and they move at their points closely to the surface of the lower rollerj, and also to the adjacent side ofthe breast h, which is curved to the circle of their movement.

The arrow q shows the direction in which the cylinder Z revolves. The staves n n, 85e., are separated by narrow spaces r r, through which openings, when the cylinder revolves, currents of air pass outward in front of the plates o o.

Heads s s of an open concave attachment to Zsupport the ends of bars t t, which extend the length of the cylinder, with their straight inner edges near the sweep of the tooth-points of o o, and their surfaces are inclined, as shown in the drawings.

Inclosed within the frame is the chute-bottom a, which is covered above by the bonnet c, which may be attached by hinges w w to a cover, x, which is over the cylinder l, the bonnet and cover being removed in Fig. 1.

y is a toothed or gill cylinder, which revolves as shown by the arrow e. Y

Openings a' a in the bonnet o are for the escape of air from the inclosed space below.

b h are a pair of pressure and drawing rollers, whose axes are in a plane inclined to the horizon, as shown in the drawings, and they revolve in the direction of the arrows t' t'. The upper roller b is a plain -surfaced roller, and the lower roller b is made with narrow shallow channels lengthwise'on itssurface, not deep enough for flutes, and used to give more adhesion to material passing between them than plain rollers would give.

c' is a breast like 7c, litting to the lower side of the bottom( roller b. d is an open concave attachment to cylinder g, withv the alternating bars c c', made with curvedv indentions and toothed points on their inner edges next .the cylinder, like the plates o o, while the alternating bars f f l have straight inner edges, all the bars having their sides radial to the beating and picking cylinder g', which last is also furnished with alternating plates h' h (like the plates o o) and straight inner edged plates i' fi', and is made without openings on its surface for the production of air-currents, as was described of the cylinder Z. The plates and bars of the ycylinder g and its concave are situated in respect to thelower roller b', to the breast c', and to each other like those of cylinder Zand its like connections.

The arrow j shows the direction in which the cylinder g revolves. k, which is removed in Fig. l, is a cover over g', and Z is a cut-od'A or delecting-board, extending in. an inclined position in front of g', with itslower edge just clearing the points of the teeth of the cylinder.

The toothed cylinder (Z revolves with a slow motion to allow a continuous thick layer of tangled dax-straw to be supplied to it by handfeeding, and the top roller g revolves with a surface movement equalto or somewhat faster than thatof the points of the teeth of cylinder cZ. The fluted rollers h 7L revolve with equal speed in all the pairs, be they more or less in number, and their surface movement is several fold greater than that of the tooth-points of d. The rotary speed of the plain rollers j j is regulated relative to that ofthe lluted rollers so that the former shall take away the thin sheet of broken flax as fast as it is delivered from the latter, and no faster. The cylinder Zrevolves with many fold greater surface speed than that of the rollers jj, and the cylinder g revolves in like proportion faster than the rollers b b', which last-named rollers move much faster than the tooth-points of cylinder y.

Motive power being applied to the shaft p, or to any other of the axes of 'the machine, the relative motions arecommunicated to the operating parts of the combination by the following connections, viz: A spur-wheel, m', on the axis of Z, drives a spur-wheel, n', on the axis of the lower roller j, which at its opposite end has a small spur-wheel, o', which 0n the other end of the same lower fluted roller a spur-wheel, t', gears with alarger ininder g' by means of a connecting-band, c,

passing over the grooved pulley b on the axis of cylinderZ and over the pulley eZ on the axis of cylinder g. 0n the opposite end of the latter a spur-wheel, c, drives a spur-wheel, ff', on the axis of the lower roller Z1', which at the opposite endhas a geared connection with the upper roller b of the saine pair by the spur-wheels g g. By means of a band, h, passingaround a grooved pulley on the axis of the lower roller b', and on the same end inside of the lower spur-wheel g", (not fully shown in the drawings,) and also around and over a larger grooved pulley, i, on the toothed cylinder y, a slow motion is given to the latter.

In operating the machine, tangledflax-straw is spread by workmen in a thick layer upon the feed-table b, and advanced to the teeth kof the cylinder CZ, which receives it upon its teeth and carries it forward under the surface of roller g, which more eft'ectually impales it upon the teeth of cylinder d, from whence itis seized and drawn away by the first pair of tinted rollers, h h, the combined action of the cylinder-teeth and of the said fluted rollers serving' to draw, comb,straighten, and extend into a thin, even sheet of straight parallel stalks the thick layer of tangled flax-straw.

The flax passing between the iiuted breaking-rollers at highvspeed is broken more effectually and rapidly in consequence of the previous drawing and straightening action which presented it to the breaking-rollers following the drawin g-rollers in a thin, even sheet of stalks made straight and parallel to the line of movement of the sheet and moving forward at high speed.

From the breaking-rollers the-flax passes to and between the plain pressure -rollers j j, which carry and hold the broken ax to the scutching and picking action of thetoothed plates 0 0 of the cylinder Z.

The plain rollers jj are used following the fluted rollers for the purpose of preventing the iiax from winding around the lowermost ofthe last pair of fluted rollers, which is the tendency when tinted rollers alone are used to break ax, and when they are run at high speed, and which is also the tendency when fluted rollers are used to deliver broken flax to the action of cylinder Z, or similar cleaningcylinders. The lower roller jis made plainsurfaced, and the edge of the breast lc is fitted close to its surface onA the side toward the cylinder Z, which deects the air-currents caused ein; L. ALL c by the revolution of l from the lower roller j, and prevents the iiax tibers from passing down under and around it to wind upon it. The breast k also serves by its curved face (which is close to the circle of the movement ot' the points of the teeth ot' cylinder l) to keep the iiax within the circle of the sweep ot' the teeth while it is held by the rollers j j.

When the aX is released by the rollers j y' it is carried down and around the cylinder L by its teeth and scutched against the inner edges ot the bars t t of the concave to cylinder l, and the shives separated from the ber are thrown ot't the cylinder and escape downward between the bars t t.

The iiaX carried around by the teeth of cylinder l, at'ter passing the last of the concave bars t t, by the centrifugal action and the aircurrents through the slotted openings r o is thrown ott' from the teeth, and, being directed `upward by the chute-bottom u, it is iinpaled upon the pointed teeth oi' the gill-cylinder y, from whence it is seized and drawn away by the rollers b b', the combined action of the latter with that ot` the gill-teeth serving to draw. comb, disentangle, and straighten the iaX fibers, and hence they are advanced and held by the rollers b b in a more favorable condition for the beating and picking action of the alternate strai ght-ed ged plates and the curved toothed plates of cylinder g.

When disengaged from the rollers b' b', the iiax is carried down and around cylinder g' by the toothed points, and scutched by being drawn over the edges of the straight-edged plates j" j" of the concave tlf, while the alternating toothed plates c c of the concave open and slightly detain the bers, by which they are subjected to an additional action from the cylinder g. rlhe shives freed from the ber escape downward between the concave bars, while the flax passing inside the latter and past the last concave bar is thrown from the cylinder g upward and outward in the form of tow, the inclined board Z.servin g to deflect the air-currents which bear away the ber, and thus aid in the delivery of the material from the cylinder.

rlhe operation of the machine is thus shown to comprise three different but combined processes-that is to say, drawing and straightening tangled aX-straw as a preparatory process to the second process of breaking' the stalks, which last process is preliminary to the tinal process of cleaning' the 'liax liber 5 and these different processes are produced by devices susceptible of separate use.

Thetop feed-roller, g, or its mechanical equivalent, is not indispensable to a degree of utility in the use of the toothed cylinder d; but by its action in forcing the iibrous material between the teeth of the latter the iax is better received from the feed-table and more evenly straightened and attenuated by the drawing action of the tirst pair of rollers, h h, or other drawingrollers in other modications, as set forth.

The devices described for drawing and straightening the flax are applicable, with similar useful results to those described of them, to be attached to or combined with other flax-breaking or to other iiaX breaking and cleaning machines in use, (which differ from that described5) and they may be so combined and used when said breaking or breaking and cleaning machines are made to receive the flax at one end and to discharge it at the other end, and are so constructed and adapted as to have (by means and modes well known tomechanics) the toothed cylinder d, with suitable rotary movement, attached to them as feedcylinder, from which aX-straw fed to it is drawn from it by the breaking or feed device otl the machine; or when said machines are so constructed and operated as to have, by common mechanical means and modes ot' attachment, the toothed cylinder d and drawin g-rollers h 7L attached to them in such manner-and with such connections Iand rotary movements as to deliver the drawn and straightened flax-straw from the saiddrawing-rollers to said machines suitably for their breaking or breaking and cleaning the aX.

The toothed cylinder d, for its described purposes, may be connected with reciprocating ro# tary rollers which only act as drawing-rollers, or with reciprocating rotary tluted rollers which act as both drawing and breaking rollers, both kinds giving an intermitting drawing action, as is done in several known iiaxbreaking machines; and the cylinder d, in such connection, may have, by known means of gearing, either a continuous rotation or an intermitting rotation to correspond to and in the direction of the draft ot' the drawing or drawing and breaking rollers.

Furthermore, the described combined processes ot' drawiu g and straightening and breaking ax is effected by devices which may be detached from the machine and be used separately as a flax-breaker without cylinder Z and the tiaX-cleaning devices t'ollowing it.

-When the drawing and breaking devices .are so detached, they may be used to deliver the broken iax to various known machines adapted for cleaning tlax by revolving scutchers and cleaners, the connection being made by common means and modes of connecting feed or breaking rollers together or to revolving cylinders for cleaning broken iiaX, and so familiar to'mechanics as not deemed necessary to be described.

The roller g may be longitudinally or circumferentially ribbed on its surface to impale the ax more et't'ectually below the tooth-points of cylinder d than when smooth-surfaced.

An equivalent feed and drawing apparatus to cylinder d may be used in place ot' it, said apparatus consisting otf a toothed endless sheet or a series ot' toothed bars linked together or otherwise made to advance in regular sucession, with a slow motion, toward the drawingrollers It h, said apparatus being made and adapted by well-known modes so as to receive tangled flax-straw fed to it or deposited on a feed carrier or table, from which the teeth take the material and carry it to the drawing-rollers, which draw the aX between its teeth, untaugling and straightening it.

rlhe drawing-rollers h h may be made, either or bothA ot' them, iiuted or plain-surfaced, or with narrow shallow grooves or creases cut lengthwise on their surfaces, not deep enough for flutes 5 and when both are iiuted they act, in the described connection, as both drawing and breaking rollers, crimping the flax-stalks in the mesh of the tintes, and breaking the woody-part into short pieces or shives; and when one roller is smooth-surfaced, or creased, or lightly grooved,the rollers in the described connection act only as drawing-rollers and to crush and Hatten the stalks.

The rollers j j may be, either or both of them, plain or smooth surfaced, or with narrow shallow channels or creases cut lengthwise on their surfaces, and may be used to deliver broken flax from breaking-rollers of common iiaX- breakers in the manner described of them in their connection with iiuted rollers h lr, and for the same purpose. rlhey may be dispensed with as delivery-rollers from tluted rollers, as described of them, and also as delivery and feed rollers placed between fluted rollers and a cleaning-cylinder, as described of them; but their use in both cases is beneficial for the purposes described.

The cylinders g and l may be used inter.. changeably, or both of them be made with closedv surfaces, like g', or with openings in their surfaces, like l and either of them may have all` their plates either toothed or plainedged, as described 5 or rows ot' picker-teeth, alternating with straight-edged plates, may be used on either of them.

The concaves, or the different kinds of bars of the concaves described, and their dierent modes of adjustmentmay be used interchangeably in connection with either cylinder.

Any other common picking', scutchin g, or beatingcylinder for cleaning flax fiber may be used when connected with the fluted rollers for breaking by the rollers j j, which operate as described.

The toothed cylinder y may be dispensed with, the rollers b b receiving the flax as it is thrown to them by cylinder L, to facilitate which the chute-bottom u has its top edge thrown backward to the position indicated by dotted lines m in the drawings.

Both the rollers b b may be either plainsurfaced or channeled or creased lengthwise, as described of the lower roller b.

rlhe chute-bottom u and rollers b b', with or without cylinder y, may be used to connect any known toothed cylinders or beaters suitable for cleaning ijaX, similarly as they connect cylinders Z and g', and for the same purposes.

I claim as new and of my inventionl. ln a machine for drawing and straightening tangled flax-straw, used either alone or in combination with machineryT for breaking or breaking and cleaning tlaX, the employment of a toothed cylinder or toothed carrier, combined with drawing or drawing and breaking rollers of any kind, and with or without a device or devices for impaling the said material upon said toothed cylinder or carrier, when said cylinder or carrier and drawing-rollers are adapted to untangle, draw, and straighten said material, for the purposes set forth.

2. rllhe employment of a flax-impaling device or devices, substantially such as described, adapted to give impalement of the stalks of tangled flax, substantially as described, upon and between the teeth of a toothed cylinder or its equivalent, or below the teeth-points to or near their base, when such toothed cylinder, is so combined with drawing-rollers or fluted drawing and breaking rollers as to convey or present the said impaled material to the action of said rollers in the said condition of impalcment, for the purposes set forth.

3. The cylinder d and roller g, combined with the adjacent pair of iiuted 4rollers h h, Y

substantially described, and for the purposes set forth.

4. The cylinder d and roller g, combined with a series of pairs of tinted rollers, h /L h l1., substantially as described, and for the purposes set forth.

5. The combination of cylinder d and roller g with drawing-rollers, either iuted or plain, in combination with one or incre pairs of fluted rollers for breaking iax, substantially as described, and for the purposes set forth.

6. The rollers j j, in connection with fluted breaking-rollers -IL lL, of one or more pairs, the whole operating substantially as described, and for the purposes set forth.

7. The combination of cylinder d and roller g with drawing and breaking rollers and the rollers j j, substantially as described, and for the purposes set forth.

S. The combination of cylinder d and roller g with drawing' and breaking rollers and the dax-cleaning cylinder l, substantially as described, and for the purposes set forth.

9. The combination of cylinder d and roller g, or any of the described flax-im paling devices,

with drawing' and breaking rollers and the rollers jj and the dax-cleaning cylinder l, substant-ially as described, and for the purposes set forth.

10. The toothed cylinder d, combined with the adjacent pair of fluted rollers 7L h, sub-l stantially as described, and for the purposes set forth.

l1. The cylinder d, connected with drawingrollers, either uted or plain, in combination with luted rollers for breaking ax, substantially as described, and for the purposes set forth.

l2. The combination of cylinder d with drawing and breaking rollers and the rollers jj, substantially as described, and for the purposes set forth.

13. The combination of cylinder d and drawing and breaking rollers and the flax-cleaning cylinder Z, substantially as described, and for the purposes set forth.

14. The combination of cylinder cZ, with drawing and breaking rollers and rollers jj, With the cleaning-cylinder Z, substantially as described, and for the purposes set forth.

l5. The combination of luted rollers h h, of

i one or more pairs, the rollers jj, the breast 7c,

and cleaningcylinder Z, when the Whole operate together, substantially as described, and for the purposes set forth.

16. The rollers b b', in connection with the chute-bottom u and cylinder g', substantially as described, and for the purposes set forth.

17. The combination of gill-cylinder i rollcrs b b', and cleaning-cylinder g', substan- STILLMAN A. CLEMENS.

Attest:

IsAIAH F. HoYfr, MELVILLE OLEMENS. 

